This section provides background information related to the present disclosure and is not necessarily prior art.
Tankless water heaters are often used to increase the temperature of water supplied from a water source. Such water heaters often include an inlet, an outlet, a conduit for transporting the water from the inlet to the outlet, and one or more heater elements for increasing the temperature of the water prior to the water exiting the outlet. In order to achieve a desired temperature of water exiting the outlet of the tankless water heater, it is often necessary to control the electrical energy supplied to one or more heater elements. The heating element(s) must be of sufficient wattage to maintain the desired outlet water temperature at the maximum flow rate of the tankless water heater. However, because of the high wattage of the heating element(s), supplying hot water of the required temperature at very low flow rates is not possible without risk of overheating. For this reason, the heating element(s) is not activated until a minimum flow rate, one at which overheating will not occur, is detected. Very low flow rates are therefore not heated. While existing electric tankless water heaters have proven acceptable for their intended purpose, a continuous need for improvement remains in the relevant art.